Percy's Valentine's Day
by actress65
Summary: After Annabeth's breakup with Percy, this is going to be a hard Valentine's Day. What with all the Aphrodite girls hitting on him, and the mysterious Hermes girl...
1. Valentine's Day

This was going to be the first Valentine's Day that I'd spent by myself, and for some reason Camp Half-Blood seemed colder. Maybe it was me just thinking about Annabeth, it brought another wave of sadness over me, she'd broken up with me after the war. Now not only do I have to deal with that but almost all of the girls in camp have been hitting on me. A girl in a red dress, obviously an Aphrodite girl, and gave a huge smile, "Percy would you like-" I already knew where this was going, "Leave me alone Drew." I said as I walked away, _come on give me a break! _ I thought angrily to myself.

I headed down to the lake; it always was a good place for me to relax. I put my hands in my pocket and felt Riptide. I rounded the corner to the docks, and I saw a girl sitting on the docks by herself. I recognized this girl, she was a daughter of Hermes, that and she was almost always by herself. I sat down next to her, and I knew she was ignoring me. _Okay, nobody ignores me_. I leaned over to her, "She's looking at the lake; the lake's beautiful isn't it?" she raised an eyebrow, "You're an idiot, do you know that Jackson?" I smiled, "With pride."

I saw a ghost of a smile on her face, "So what's your name?" "Liza Peterson." I smiled, "Hey why is it that whenever I see you you're always by yourself?" Liza sighed and looked back at the lake, "_Because_ nobody ever tries to talk to me, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I mean it's not any different than when I was a kid." I suddenly became curious, "What do you mean? Since I was a kid?" She looked at me, "Well I was an orphan, I lived on the streets and no one ever noticed me or offered me food or anything. Then one day this guy in a Rasta cap and a goatee comes up to me and offers me a free summer camp. I was like 'Sure free food, free showers, and maybe even some friends!' So far I'm having trouble on that last part."

Liza looked at me, "So Percy what's your deal? Why are you always so depressed looking? Friends? Family? Or girls?" I gave her a blank look, "Whenever someone's sad it's always one of those three things." I frowned, "Fie then, girls or actually a girl." Liza looked at me and I just noticed that she had hazel eyes and light brown hair, "Let me guess Annabeth broke up with you?" I laughed, "Are you sure that Aphrodite isn't your mom?" Liza splashed the water with her feet, "If I was then you probably wouldn't be having this conversation with me." I thought about that, "True." Liza patted my shoulder, "Let me just say that Annabeth must be a nut job to break up with you."

I held up a finger like, _whoa girl you did not just go there_, "Don't tell me you're hitting on me." Liza rolled her eyes, "Cool your pants; I'm just saying she's crazy because you're a nice guy, you're funny, you've gone through hell" _literally "_and you're a great leader." I pretended to blush, "Aw shucks." She face palmed herself, "So are you feeling a little better?" she asked and I nodded, "Thanks Liza, and would you say that we're friends?" Liza shrugged, "What do you think?" Honestly I had no clue what to think about Liza Peterson, but then again I didn't know anything about Annabeth for a while. "Yeah, I think we are."


	2. The Past Is Told

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it's taken awhile but here's the next chapter in the story, so, drumroll please…Chapter 2!**

The events of yesterday still hung in my mind; Liza was a nice break from the regular girls. Though Annabeth still took up most of my thoughts, _what had I done wrong_? Even though Annabeth and I broke up we still had conversations every now and then. As I walked past the Athena cabin I saw her packing up I stopped and leaned in the doorway. "Where are you going Wise Girl?" she didn't turn, instead she kept packing and sighed. "Percy, I'm going to Camp Jupiter, Reyna asked me to help build New Rome. I don't really have anything left to stay behind so I told her that I'd head over there."

If Clarisse came up to me and apologized for giving me a hard time all of these years I would've been less surprised.

_Annabeth leaving? What is happening?!_ I put on a poker face not wanting to deal with any of my mixed emotions and told her, "Well…see you later." As I was leaving out of the corner of my eyes I saw her look up at me, but I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing how much this had really hurt me.

_She_ had broken up with me, if she's having second thoughts about that well I've four words for her: deal with it chick. I passed the Aphrodite cabin and thought about asking Piper for advice for a spilt second, and then I remembered that I'd get bombarded with crazed Aphrodite girls. This was NOT on my to-do list for today.

Connor and Travis Stoll ran past me yelling, "Help! Crazy Son of Hephaestus is chasing us!" Conner yelled, and I knew who he was talking about, Leo. Travis, while he was running, was patting the fire off his pants. "Connor, the lake!" They sprinted as fast as they could and suddenly Leo stood beside me with his hair on fire. I pointed to his head, "Uh, Leo…you got a little something…" He patted his curly hair and frowned in the direction of Connor and Travis Stoll.

"What did they do this time, Leo?" I asked him and he crossed his arms which were covered in grease, "They stole my astroble! I am going to kill them!" _Astroble? _He caught his breath them he patted me on the shoulder, "Okay, I gotta go barbeque some Sons of Hermes." I really hoped he was kidding. Well at least it's good to know that some things never change.

I walked past the cabins and mine remained empty as usual. Though it was nice sometimes to have peace and quiet, other times it would be great to have a little less quality time with just myself and my thoughts- "Percy!"

Liza ran up to me and stopped looking at me. "Gods Percy, you look worse than yesterday." "Gee thanks, any more comments to brighten my day?" she rolled her hazel eyes and we started to walk. We were silent for a while.

"I think I know why you're in this mood." She said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Oh do you now?"

"Yeah, Annabeth is leaving."

"How'd you know?"

"Intuition."

She pulled out a rubber band and tied up her hair into a loose bun. I really was starting to wonder if Aphrodite was her mom. She looked at me with sympathy, "Do you want me to tell you something?" I nodded slowly and we walked into the forest, she sat down on a rock once we were a little ways in.

"What is it Liza?" I asked and she rubbed her hands, "I know how you're feeling, when I was living on the streets I had a…friend…his name was Neal. If you looked at us we were always together, and if it weren't for him I wouldn't be here right now.

It was rainy night and we were in one of the rougher parts of the city. He and I were huddled together under a pavilion to keep dry, that's when things took a turn for the worst. These men came up to us with baseball bats and apparently Neal and them had a 'spat' before he met me. They said he needed to get their payment for it.

I knew they didn't mean payment in money; I was smart enough to figure out that. Neal pushed me away and yelled at me to run. I couldn't do that, I stayed with him and someone hit me in the back of the head. When I woke up I looked around for Neal, when I found him quite a bit away from where I was he…they beat him. Though when I found him he was still breathing, but just barely. I ran over to him and held him he looked up at me weakly and said to me 'Thank god you're alive.' I started crying and he whispered, 'Don't cry, just remember me the way I was, not like this. When you look at sky and you see the sun think of me, and smile at the memory…please don't cry.' Those were his last words, he died in my arms. For the next couple months I had to find the strength to get up, tough it out and carry on.

He still comes to mind, every day I see something that reminds me of him. He loved the water, and whenever we'd pass a pool, we'd sneak in at night and swim in it. He also loved to walk through parks and climb trees, and every time I pass by something beautiful he comes to mind. He didn't deserve to die, he was kind and showed me how to stay safe, and he always could make me laugh."

She burst out crying and I felt my heart go out to her, she may not have gone through Tarturas but it must have felt like it. I walked over to her and hugged her, "How old were you?" "Ten." I felt like my heart was breaking and I sat there with you.

"I guess it's my turn to ask if you're alright." She managed a weak smile, and shook her head, "All of us have had something happen to us, and some people have had it worse than others. Nobody is completely happy sunshine and rainbows." Her hazel eyes still gleamed with tears and I sat back. "I highly doubt there have ever been wiser words from a sixteen year old girl's mouth." She smiled and was that a blush?

"Thanks Jackson." "You're welcome Peterson."


	3. Tides and Swords

The next morning Annabeth headed out and I'm pretty sure at least 99% of all the campers went to go see her off. That other 1% was me; I really didn't need to see her off. I had already said my good bye to her, plus I bet she remembered that I hate good byes. Bob, for one example still came to mind when I looked at a bright starry night…

I walked around the lake needing to get away from the thought of Annabeth, and –"Percy, I thought you'd be seeing Annabeth off." I turned and found Nico di Angelo leaning on a tree by the sand. _Oh yeah, he left for a while and doesn't know we broke up. _"Nico, around a month after you left Annabeth and I broke up…"

Even though his face was stone hard I thought I saw some hopefulness behind those dark eyes of his.

The Son of Hades has/still is a mystery to me. He never stays in one place for more than a month, barely talks to anyone (that he doesn't really know at least) and just is a shadowy person. Right now he was twirling his silver skull ring half mindedly. "I'm sorry about that Percy, I highly doubt before the war ended that anyone could have predicted that." I shrugged and sat down on the sand, "Well it's done, right now she's on her way to Camp Jupiter…"

Nico stayed in the shadows that the trees on the edge of the shore held and said, "If you need anything you know where to find me." He melted back into the shadows which made me wonder if he shadow traveled. You just could never tell with that guy.

I saw a figure down farther on the beach; I could tell the figure was a girl. Being the curious (and also slightly bored) boy that I was I went to go check it out.

As far away as I was I couldn't really tell who she was but I saw that her face was sad, her hair was gently blowing in the breeze and her eyes were closed as if she were imagining something. I quickly realized that this was Liza, but it was so different to see her like this, with an old blue sweatshirt hair flying and looking so peaceful. Though it reminded me more of a somber person.

Soon enough I was standing beside her and she took no notice, maybe she was like meditating or something, but I looked at her and asked quietly, "You alright?" she slowly opened her eyes and smiled gently, "Yeah, I was just thinking about Neal. He would've loved this camp…" she sighed and rubbed her hands together. "Sorry if I worried you." She said meekly and I rolled my eyes and nudged her, "Don't apologize."

She looked at me with her hazel eyes and studied me, "I guess you didn't go to see Annabeth leaving." That comment made a frown pull at my face, "Yeah, that's a whole boat load of emotions that I don't want to deal with." She laughed a little to herself, and raised her eye brow at me, "Really, well I can't you. Annabeth never really talked to me and since I just got here this summer it's not like I'm emotionally attached to her."

"You have it good then."  
"Sure Jackson, sure I do."

We both started laughing, maybe it was because of all the things we'd been through had been weighing on us, but we started laughing and we couldn't stop. She looked at me after around five minutes of laughing and asked, out of breath, "Why are we laughing?" I shrugged and laughed some more, "I honestly don't have a clue!"

Finally after gods know how long we stopped laughing, and we both just looked at each other. I couldn't find my voice, and she just said, "I've heard so many things about you." "A lot of demigods have." She looked over the ocean, and asked, "Did you really defeat a Titan, and go to the Underworld?" "Not to brag but I've done those things multiple times." "Oh did you now?" "Yep, but if I had the chance to do the over again I wouldn't. The Underworld has some places has some, disturbing places…"

Liza looked at me in awe, and said, "Geez I never would be able to do those things." I laughed to myself, "You'd be surprised by the things you can do when your friends and loved ones are in danger." I slowly pulled the tide closer with my hand (I do this a lot of time whenever I to clear my head), "You feel like it's your responsibility to save them and it seems like if you don't do anything to save them you feel worthless.

Liza put her hand on my shoulder in a friendly kind of way and she looked at my sympathy, I knew that in a way she could understand that some I loved and still do love is leaving me and I can't do anything about it.

_Sometimes I wonder what I fight for, for a long time it was for cam, friends and family. Then it turned to Annabeth, and it seems like every time I find something that I'm willing to fight for the gods just want to go and pretty much say, "Lol, jk u don't have that anymore. Ttyl!" It was freaking annoying is what it was. Sometimes the gods just wanted to see me suffer; maybe it's like their favorite soap opera! _

I suddenly realized that the waves were getting stronger along the beach and that they were crashing violently, when I let up on the waves Liza looked around, "That was you?" I nodded and she smiled, "That's really cool." "It's alright."

Riptide hung in my pocket and I pulled it out and started twirling with it, I looked at Liza, "Say, are you good with swords?" she shook her head, "Nope, I am terrible- ""Let's change that theory."

When we got to the sword arena it was deserted, _perfect_. I picked up a sword that was relatively light and pretty well balanced and tossed it to her. Easily she caught it and lifted it up, "I like this sword, but where exactly is yours?" I uncapped Riptide, and I honestly thought that by her reaction she could've stabbed herself in the nose.

"Whoa! Your pen just- WHAT?!" I laughed at the expression of surprise on her face, "Hades gym shorts, you're more surprised by this than me with the tides back there!" Liza frowned at me and said in embarrassment, "Can we just get onto the sword fighting?" "If you insist."

By the time lunch came we were both drenched with sweat, she was pretty darn good for a girl who said she wasn't. "Congratulations, you've made major progress." I said, she frowned and got some water, "I only lasted five minutes." "That's longer than half the campers last, oh and don't forget that on time you beat me." Oh that defeat still hurt, not because of the reason you'd expect. "I only that time because I kneed you right in the soft spot." "Yeah, not the nicest strategy, but still resourceful." A smile washed over her face.

Even though she was sweaty and had a couple nicks she still looked awesome, _wait, did I just think what I thought I just thought? Crud. _

At lunch when I was giving my offering to the gods Connor and Travis walked up to me. "We saw you at the arena, what were you doing with our sister?" _Protective much, these guys might be as bad as Athena._ "Liza and I were sword practicing, that's it." Connor and Travis both crossed their arms and did the "I'm-watching-you" thing with their hands. I rolled my eyes and felt good seeing that the two trouble-makers watched out for their sister.

As I walked back to the Poseidon table I caught Liza's eye and she waved at me, I waved back and felt hopefulness rise up inside of me for the first time since Annabeth. Then two words played in my mind as I thought about Liza: _screw Annabeth_.


	4. Mist and Mixed Feelings

Liza's POV (point of view)

At lunch and my brothers Connor and Travis stopped me Percy and talked to him, about what I had no idea. Percy rolled his eyes after they felt and he caught my eye, I waved at him. Surprisingly he waved back.

_Huh, I didn't think he'd wave back. _ Then Percy went to go sit down by himself and I wanted so bad to go and sit by him. I'd rather have one person at my table then twenty because my brothers were starting to get really nosey.

"So Liza…" Travis started, Connor crossed his arms and finished, "What have you been doing with Jackson?" Now I got why Percy had rolled his eyes, I frowned at my brothers, "Come on guys, he's just a friend. And we were practicing sword fighting." Conner pursed his lips, and Travis rolled his eyes. I crossed my arms at the two of them. Maybe I didn't want us to be _"just friends"_, "Come on, don't be immature."

"Connor and I _are_ immature." Travis replied.

"Can I get a new brother then?

Conner shook his head with a smirk, "Nope, you're stuck with us sis."

"Kill me now."

Even though they can be a pain in the butt I couldn't imagine my life here at camp the same way without them. Since I grew up without family it was nice to have people look out for me and even be over protective. Having a brother was a luxury I never had, so I was happy now that I had all of these brothers and sisters.

After lunch I walked around because I still hadn't explored half the camp and when I was walking through the woods I thought I heard some rustling.

"Hey, someone there? I swear if it's you're Connor or Travis I'm going to kick your butt for following me!" A boy that I'd never seen before now appeared from the shadows. He had shaggy black hair that look like he'd just gotten out of bed (most boys here look like this), an aviator jacket, skull t-shirt, black Converses, a silver skull ring, and a dark sword that seemed the make the air ten degrees colder.

"Um…sorry, you aren't my brothers." I said awkwardly to the boy, he looked my age though at the same time he _didn't_. It was really starting to feel awkward. The boy frowned, "No, I'm not a Son of Hermes." He held out his hand and I shook it, they were cold as ice.

"I'm Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades." _Whoa, a Son of Hades, I think I've heard about this guy. Didn't he help out in both of the wars here? _"Hi, I'm Liza Peterson, Daughter of Hermes."

Suddenly I heard a crash farther in the woods, followed by some colorful words. Nico scowled, "What is that boy Leo doing now?" _wait, how in the world would he immediately know that's Leo? Well considering all of the "malfunctions" he has at the forge I couldn't blame him._

We both went to investigate what was the explosion and found him digging in the ground. He didn't seem to notice us so when Nico asked him what he was doing he jumped. "Gods in high Olympus Nico!" he patted his hair down (which was currently on fire) and replied, "I was looking for some parts for a-er…project. My tracking device beeped loudly over the spot where the parts were and them POOF! " he mimicked an explosion with his hands, "It explodes."

Knowing the amount of stuff I knew about Leo I really didn't need to know what this "project" was so I waved him good bye and headed out of the woods. Nico stayed behind to make sure Leo's explosion didn't harm any dryads. He looked really tough but I suspected he was just as vulnerable under that act as the rest of us.

I was walking along side some cliffs lining the shore and the mist sprayed me. It was nice and relaxing- "Hello?" I heard a familiar(ish) voice say. I looked around and saw Annabeth in the mist; she must be Iris messaging me. What _did_ she need? "Hi, Annabeth, what do you need?" she looked disappointed when I answered her. Annabeth sighed and said sadly, "I was trying to contact Percy; well can you relay a message to him?" I nodded and she told me: "Well I've made up my mind; I want to ask Percy if he'll give me a second chance and come to New Rome with me."

"Oh…um yeah I'll tell him…" Annabeth smiled and the mist broke up.

My mind told me, "Go on and tell him! Annabeth was the love of his life, he's always been so sad; you know he wants to give her a second chance too!"

My heart had a different message, "Come on girl, you love him, are you just going to let go of him that easily?! Don't tell him, what he doesn't know won't kill him, am I right?"

Two totally different feelings fought inside of me for the rest of the day and I felt myself getting a splitting headache. "Stupid feelings, why couldn't I be a rock?" I asked myself, I kicked a branch on the ground and it snapped.

That night I sat in bed, mulling over what I should do, and eventually I fell asleep. Though I wish I hadn't.

Neal was smiling with me, "Do you have it?" I asked in the dream, and I knew that it was a memory but it didn't make it any sadder. He pulled out an orange and tossed it to me, "Here you go Liz."

His blond hair and brown eyes glinted at me in the memory. The summer breeze cooled us down and I peeling off the skin from the orange. It had been one of the rare time that they stand we normally get out food from (and occasionally stole from, but hey we were hungry.) Neal rubbed the top of my head and I asked him, "How old are you? You never actually told me."

"I'm thirteen, and how old are you?" "I am eight!" I paused for a moment, "or at least somewhere around that age." We both laughed and we looked up at the sky, then for the next hour we talked about what a certain cloud looked like. I thought one cloud looked exactly like a T-Rex, and Neal argued that it looked more like a deformed bunny. Then my dream took a drastic change.

Rain poured over head and the park trees loomed over head in the darkness. I got up and for a second I didn't recall anything, then I remembered about the men. "Neal!" I screamed as I unsteadily got up, I took a step and tripped again, falling into the mud.

"Neal?!" I yelled again from the wet ground, I got up this time again looked around the pavilion. Panic welled up inside of me when he wasn't there, "Neal, _please_ if you can hear me yell!" Desperation rang throughout my voice as I started running around in confusion.

"I'm over here…" I heard a faint voice call, Neal's voice, and even though he sounded hurt he was alive. My footsteps seemed to echo throughout the park as I ran to his voice. When I found him I gasped. Apparently the men not only had baseball bats, but they also had knives.

Cuts were deep and scattered all over Neal; there was barely any part of skin which wasn't bruised. I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around him, "No, no, no, no, no, no." I murmured to myself. "Please tell me you're alright, that we-we're going to okay." I pleaded to him and his brown eyes looked sadly into mine. "Liza," he's my real name a few times so when he did I got worried really fast, he shook his head weakly, "I'm not going to lie to you…"

I felt the tears come out all over again as despair washed over my, it hit me and made me want to die. "No Neal, you-you aren't leaving me!" Neal looked at the trees above us, then back to me, "Thank god you're alive, and I'd rather die than you." Tears now came in a steady stream, they wouldn't stop and it felt like I was part of the rain. He looked up at me and gently wiped the tears from my eyes, "Please don't cry…" he murmured and I could see that this was tough for him, if not tougher. "Remember me the way I was, not this bloody mess. When you look at sky and you see the sun or the moon on a clear night, think of me, and smile at the memory." He closed his eyes and hugged me weakly, "Please don't cry Liz-…"

I woke up covered in sweat and wiped the tears that were starting to form. _Keep it together Liz, you can only cry when you're by yourself. Not here…_ So I quietly exited the cabin and walked outside, it was chillier than you'd expect it to be in July so a chill settled over me. The lake reflected the moon and Neal's words echoed in my head, I sat down on the dock going out over the lake and finally I let the tears fall.

"Neal…" I murmured to myself and I wrapped my arms around my knees like I used to do when I was five. I buried my head in the darkness that they gave and grief washed over me all over again. I felt a blanket wrap around me, and I looked up to find none other than Percy kneeling beside me.

"Come here Liza." He whispered and I didn't hesitate when he opened up his arms to me, I cried into his chest and felt like all of those tears I held over the years were finally being let go. Percy held me and I realized he must know how it felt to watch someone close to him go and not being able to do anything about it. I looked up into his sea green eyes and they looked back at me, "So Liza, I think I understand what you're going through but you need to be strong. If it weren't for him you probably wouldn't be here now, so take what you remember of him, all of those good things that you did with him and every time he made you smile think about that. Think of him as more of a friend who's moved away and you can't see but you know he'll always be there."

I tried and instantly I felt better, I smiled out over the lake and pulled the blanket tighter around me. "Thank you Percy, I mean really…it's nice that I can talk to you, and that I can trust you." Percy smiled with happiness and I felt the matter of Annabeth pressing in my mind. "Look Percy…Annabeth asked me to tell you something…"

That caught his attention; _this is going to be hard_. "She said that she wants for you to give her a second chance, and come-" my voice cracked, "come to New Rome…" he sighed and laid back on the dock, I did too not wanting to talk.

Finally he said, "If she had said that a while ago then I'd say yes…" I looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" Percy sighed and looked up at the sky, as if thinking deeply, "Well, now I don't think I need her." "Why?" I sat up and rubbed my hands together, "You'd be happy; you could forget about all of the pain-" Percy sat up and looked at me with a ghost of a smile, he held my hand with one of his. "Because of you, and look I you don't feel the same way then it's alright." I laughed and gently pushed him. "You idiot, of course I feel the same about you!" I turned my head to the water and muttered, "Boys can be so oblivious." Percy pouted and said pretending to be sad, "That's not very nice." "Deal with it, because now you're stuck with me Jackson."

Percy smiled sweetly and said to me, "I think I can handle that." We both started leaning closer until we were just inches apart and –SPLASH! He jumped into the water with a grin on his face; I laughed and sat there on the dock. "Aren't you coming in?" he asked teasingly and I shrugged, "What the heck, nobody's around."

I jumped in and knew right then and there that everything was going to be alright, as long as I had Percy. Percy easily swam over to me and held my hand, "Let me show you something." He gently pulled me underwater and suddenly I realized that I could breathe. "Whoa." I murmured and he nodded.

This was the best night of my life.


	5. The First Date

Percy's POV

"Okay, you know she likes you, just go up to her and ask her out!" I said to myself as I pep-talked myself up; I tried to pat down my messy hair, though I finally gave up on that. "You can do this Percy." I said to myself finally as I pulled out a bouquet of flowers, mostly consisting of lavenders.

I started to feel nervous as I looked around for Liza, I had asked her to meet me at the dock at 4:30, and she wasn't here! "Sorry Percy, Conner and Travis made a mess in the cabin and I had to clean it up." A sigh of relief escaped me and I pulled the flowers out from behind my back, she took them and raised her eyebrow, "Are you _finally_ asking me out on a date?" My face became slightly red, "Maybe, so would you like to go see a movie with me? Like sneak away from camp for a day and go to the city?"

Liza smiled and looked at the flowers, "Of course Jackson." _Point one for Percy!_ I thought happily to myself as I walked away, then getting up my courage I turned around and kissed her on the cheek before leaving.

She looked slightly surprised and blushed, I guess I was just as surprised as she was, plus I was probably blushing too. I walked away without another word; a feeling of accomplishment filled me as I was walking.

Piper strode up to me after I walked past the cabins, "Hey Percy, do you know where Liza got those flowers from?" I nodded and replied, "Yep, I gave them to her." Her mouth formed an O shape and she smiled brightly, "Oh my gods! Percy I didn't know you liked her!" I pointed to her and said teasingly, "Um…Piper, your Aphrodite is showing." "Oh ha-ha, very funny," she said frowned but then sighed happily, "but this is so good. You two are going to be happy."

It was kind of nice to see Piper all giddy like this, after the war everyone seemed like they all were dampened a little. This was probably the happiest I'd seen her in a while. She said happily, "Oh Percy, Jason is going to come back from Camp Jupiter. He had to make sure everything was in order there before coming back here so we should be expecting him some time in the next week."

Jason, I hadn't seen the Son of Jupiter since the war ended, he and I thought alike so we got along pretty well. (You know except for that one little incident in Kansas during the war.)

The next morning I pulled on a blue sweatshirt and ran to the Hermes cabin, and carefully without waking anyone, I made my way over to Liza. When I woke her up she looked at me in shock, "Percy, what in the name of the gods are you doing here?" she murmured and I put a finger to my lips and then whispered, "We're going to the city, get dressed, I'll meet you at Half-Blood Hill."

She groggily sat up and muttered about not being a morning person and shooed me outside, and when I was waiting on the hill I got really excited. Maybe I could pay my mom a visit, oh and I could show Liza the different battles that I had there…_ Wait movies first and then showing her all the battles, great now I feel like Annabeth!_

Liza ran up to me and asked, "Don't you think it's going to be too hot for a sweatshirt?" I sighed and took it off, "I'll take it off, _if you insist_." I threw it by a tree and would grab it later…hopefully.

_Blackjack! I need a lift!_ I called out and in response I heard him ask in my mind, _yo boss it feels like it's three in the morning, why'd you have to wake me up so early? _ I shook my head, _Blackjack, it's seven fifteen, and please could you come and pick me up? _

Less than a minute later a black Pegasus came flying to me, _who's the girl? _ He asked and Liza stroked his mane, _I like her. _I laughed and said out loud, "Blackjack, this is Liza, can you take us to the city?

Blackjack snorted, I don't think that needed a translation.

Once Liza and I were in Manhattan I told Blackjack I'd call him when I needed him to pick us up. Then, since it was so early in the morning and none of the theaters would be open we went to walk through the park.

It was clearly the nicest park in the Manhattan, though the name of it escaped me. We walked past a pavilion and Liza's eyes widened. "This is the pavilion where it happened…" she murmured as she walked towards it in a daze. All I could do was follow her as she walks, and she walked to a grove of trees and there was _one _spot where trees covered the area but light still flooded it from parts in the leaves.

A flower, a little dandelion, grew right in the middle of the grove and Liza fell to her knees in front of it. She simply looked at it, that little dandelion and I knelt down beside her, "Is this where…" Liza nodded sadly and put her hands together, together we sat there in silence.

I couldn't believe that this place, the nicest place in the park, is where a boy died.

No tears fell from her eyes; she just sat there numbly staring at the flower. "Percy will you promise me something?" "Anything." "One of these days, will you help plant a tree here?" "Yes, and then we can put a bench in front of it and write on it, 'In honor of Neal'." Liza hugged me and sniffed sadly, "Thank you Percy." Then she kissed me.

Any way of making words, left me. Liza pulled back and blushed, "Sorry that must have been out of the blue." _A little, but I'm not complaining. _"No, it's alright, I just wasn't expecting that." We were silent for quite a while when I said, "Awkward silence…" Liza laughed and gently pushed me, her face was really getting red, and I teased her, "You know you're cute when you blush." Liza rolled her eyes and got up, and then she looked at the dandelion and whispered, "Bye Neal."

As we were walking away I reached over and held her hand, "Why don't I go to show you my mom?" Liza smiled and replied,

"Sure, what's she like?"

"That's easy, she's the nicest lady in the world, she put up with a jerk named Smelly Gabe, she worries about me constantly and she gives me blue food."

"Ah, that explains why your food is blue."

"Yep."

Liza's POV

Percy led me through the city I knew so well to his mom's place. When he knocked on the door a man opened the door he exclaimed, "Percy!" then he paused when he saw me, "And who's your friend?" Percy introduced us, "Liza Peterson, meet Paul Blofis." I shook Paul's hand and Paul invited us in.

When he was going to get us some water I whispered over to Percy, "I thought you wanted me to see your mom." He smirked, "This is my stepdad, and mom should be here any second now." Sure enough his mom came out and gasped when she saw Percy, "Percy, you didn't tell me you were coming!" she embraced him and then looked at me, Percy introduced me, "This is Liza Peterson, Liza meet my mom, Sally Jackson."

Like I did with Paul, I shook her hand and she gave me a warm smile, "Hello, so you're friends with Percy?" Percy tapped his fingers awkwardly, he whispered something into his mom's ear and she nodded, "Oh, sorry."

Then Paul came back with some drinks, when I looked at mine I noticed it was blue and Percy laughed, "Liza, it's just blue Coke." "Oh, I totally knew that."

After around an hour we left and I sighed, "Percy, we don't need to go to a movie, how about we just go grab some food and call that a date?" Percy raised his eyebrow at me, "That's no fun." I had an idea, "Hey aren't they doing fireworks tonight at camp?" he nodded and sighed, "Fine, but you aren't going to ditch _that_." "I won't Percy, don't worry, it's just I've never really been into movies."

He wrapped his arm around me and said, "Come on, I know there's a McDonald's around here."

That night we set up a blanket on the beach, and I lay back on the blanket. Percy lay beside me and wrapped both of his arms around me, and I smiled. Percy looked down at me,

"Percy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

I kissed him and felt myself start to blush but I didn't care. Apparently Percy didn't either because he didn't pull away. Just then a firework went off and Percy laughed, "How's that for a spark?" I laughed and his super cheesy joke and rolled my eyes, "You're an idiot Jackson." He smirked, "But you love me for it don't you?" I couldn't help but laugh, "You're lucky I do." His let my go, but still held onto my hand.

I never wanted to let go.


	6. A Big Day

Liza's POV

One week before the wedding Piper asked me while helping try on my dress, "So how exactly did Percy propose to you?" I smiled when I remembered what had happened.

It was Christmas Day and Percy had woke me up, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas!" _Gods Percy, you can be such a little kid sometimes. _Not that I was complaining, it was nice to see him get excited like this. Around two years after we'd started going out we moved in together in an apartment in New York City.

As we headed to the living room I saw the kitchen was covered in flour and blue food coloring. "Percy, did you try to make pancakes again?" I asked and he nodded proudly, "Yes but this tie I didn't _try_ I _did _make pancakes." He brought out five blue pancakes stacked on top of each other, and I also noticed that he looked slightly nervous.

_Well I can't blame him for being nervous, he's probably wondering what I was thinking about them. The last time he tried to make pancakes they tasted terrible. _

"Eat up." Percy said as he pushed the pancakes over to me, I asked him,

"Aren't you going to eat one or two of them?"

"Nope this is my treat to you, hush your mouth and eat the pancakes."

"Alright, alright Mr. Grumpy Pants." (Percy loves it when I make quotes from Finding Nemo.)

I took the first bite and gasped he looked really nervous, "What is it Liza?" I looked at the pancakes dumbfound, "These are actually edible!" Percy frowned and threw a pillow at me, narrowly avoiding the pancakes.

Finally after what seemed like forever, I got to the bottom pancake, now Percy almost seemed like he was sweating. _What in the name of the gods is he so nervous about?_ I asked myself as I cut into the pancake, but something hard seemed to stop y fork.

I looked at it and it looked like a little ring, _what in the world?_ "Percy, please explain to me what this ring is doing in the pancake?" Percy smiled innocently and said, "Read it…out loud?" I cleaned off the dough from the ring and looked inside of it.

"It says…_will you marry me?_"

Percy held out his arms like, "What do you say?" he looked at me nervously, and I laughed and held the ring close to my heart, "Of course you moron! Yes I'll marry you!" Percy smiled at me as I hugged him.

Piper was smiling in awe as I recalled it all, she sighed happily, "That's so cute!" I smiled at her happily and she looked at me when I was fully into the dress, "Oh Liza you look so beautiful, even without all of the hair and make-up. One the big day you're going to be drop-dead-gorgeous!" I laughed and said, "Please can I get out of it, I want to not look at myself until the wedding day." She sighed and helped me get out of it.

After I got out of it, I stood at the bus stop waiting and Leo walked over, "Hey Leo, what are you doing around here?" he pointed to the mechanic shop across the street, "I work there, and I have a question to ask you about Percy." "Ask away." "Would it be okay if I made Festus fly outside after you guys are done with wedding and like hook up a congratulations sign to it?" _maybe he's messing with me, plus Festus is just a figure head, ah what the heck? Percy would be fine with it._ "Sure Leo."

He smiled in anticipation and said quietly, "Yesssss…"

Percy's POV

The big day was finally here, and Piper had the _wonderful_ idea of not letting me see Liza until she walks down the aisle. Let me just say I was getting more nervous than I'd ever gotten before. Make me fight a god, _whatever,_ make me bathe in the river Styx, _I can manage that, _this? _Nope!_

We walked to the forest in Camp Half-Blood, which was where we were going to have the wedding. The nymphs, satyrs, and campers really outdid themselves.

The area of the forest had a canopy of trees over it and the nymphs had hung crystal balls from branches so that whenever the light touched it, it would glow blue and cover the area around it in watery light. Then the seats were made by the different cabins and they all were covered in blue or purple ribbons (purple was Liza's favorite color) and other decorations.

Then the aisle was covered in Lavender petals and, even though I wasn't a child of Aphrodite or girly this place was amazing looking. Nobody was there yet except me but I heard a rustling in the bushes out came the Stoll brothers. "Hey." I said to them and they frowned at me, "Jackson," Connor started, Travis pointed to me, "Are you going to be good to our sister?" I nodded and crossed my arms, and then they smiled and patted me on the back Connor laughed, "Dude we're just messing with you. We're happy for you two."

A smile crossed my face, these guys really cared about Liza and I knew that she didn't take that lightly. These guys were probably the closest thing she had to a family and to know that they were looking out for her must have been nice.

Then Jason walked into the clearing and while Connor and Travis left. "You ready Percy?" he asked me and I sat down on one of the chairs, "As ready as I'll ever be, why am I so nervous though? She said she'd marry me, I don't think she's just say no at the alter-"Jason sat down in the chair next to mine and put his hand on my shoulder,

"It's just last minute jitters."

"The wedding is three hours away."

"Percy I'm trying to help you."

I sighed and relaxed a little, "Thanks man." "No problem, say is Annabeth coming?" _Annabeth coming? Fat chance!_ "I really don't think so, it's just been kind of awkward ever since Liza and I started dating, and now that we're getting married…yeah." Jason looked at me with sympathy, "Yeah I know where you're coming from with girl troubles, you are preaching to the choir."

After talking and talking people finally started coming and I started getting nervous all over again. Piper walked up to me and rubbed her hands together, "Okay so after the wedding we'll have a dance, you and Liza are going to be dancing first and Liza's already picked out a song. It's perfect for you two." "Okay, you're the boss. And thanks for putting the wedding together."

Grover was going to be my best man, who else could be my best man. I've known him since I was twelve, and he's always been there for me. He walked in with Juniper, and trotted over to me, "Hey Percy!" "Hey G-Man." "You ready?" "I already had this conversation earlier, but thanks for asking."

Piper ran up to me and said happily, "Places everyone!" Everyone got to their seats and I stood at the front. Everyone started to walk out and there was a huge gasp because when Liza walked out, she walked out with her dad, Hermes.

Liza looked amazing, and that's an understatement! Her dress was pure white with a satin blue ribbon around her waist. Her dress wrapped around her shoulders decorated with little pearls, and her dress flowed out below the ribbon. It was decorated with ore pearls and had a train, and her hair was made-up princess style.

When her eyes met mine she blushed slightly and Hermes sat down looking at Liza happily. She stood in front of me and I whispered, "You look beautiful Liza." She blushed more and said, "I feel like everyone's looking at me." "I can't blame them."

Chiron stood and started to speak, though I can't really remember much of it. All I could do is look at Liza, and looked back at me. Whenever Chiron said to repeat I repeated, though I swear I was talking gibberish.

All I do remember clearly is saying "I do." And then hearing Liza say "I do."

Chiron looked at the two of us happily and said to me, "You may kiss the bride." And I did, it was perfect, and I didn't even care about everyone watching us. Liza smiled at me brightly and took my hand. I could tell I was grinning like an idiot.

After that we walked over to the dance floor and the song "Always" by Panic! At the Disco. Played, I recognized it because Liza and I would always listen to it and she'd say it was her favorite song. Thus it became our song, whenever it came on we'd stop whatever we were doing and start dancing with each other.

Liza whispered to me, "So how do you like Liza Jackson?" "Just as much as I loved Liza Peterson." I was dancing with her and wrapped my arms around her and she laid her head on my chest, then everyone started dancing too. Hermes tapped me on the back and asked, "May I steal Liza for a minute?" _ Saying no to a god will get you turning into ashes 98.99% of the time so I nodded._

When I went over to go get a drink I was taken by surprise, Annabeth was there too. She saw me and looked down sadly, then walked away. _If this was making her so sad, then why in the name of Poseidon did she show up?!_ Girls.

I noticed that same expression on Nico di Angelo whenever he looked at me, suddenly everything about Nico made sense. Not that it made him any less complicated but I understood that he used to like me. Why the gods had to make him like _me _of all people will always be a mystery to me but I pushed the thought out of my head and I went back to find Liza. And on the way I got a whole lot of, "Congratulations Percy!" and "I wish I were Liza!" but eventually I found Liza and she waved me over, "Hey Leo just said he wanted to show everyone something."

_Uh-Oh._

When we walked out to the clearing I heard a roar I'd only heard from one thing before. Festus, now fully made soared above with a sign flying from behind. I sighed when I read it and put my face in my hands. It said:

Congratulations my brochacho, yours demigodishness and all that, peace out!

_Oh gods Leo, I'm never going to live this down. _I thought ad Leo stood triumphantly at the back of the crowd, he walked up to us and Liza said: "Geez, Leo, I didn't think you'd actually do it!" I looked at her shocked, "You knew about this?!" Liza shrugged, "He mentioned it, but I didn't think he'd actually _do it._" Leo frowned at her then smirked, "You underestimated my awesomeness."

Again, I put my face in my hands. Leo muttered,

"Well this went way better than the rehearsals did."

"What happened at the rehearsals?"

"A lot of burnt and angry campers and nymphs."

Liza smiled and I thought, _well it's the thought that counts… _she took my hand and laid her head on my shoulder, "Come on Percy, I have a great idea for a vacation." I got happier at the thought of that.

"I can't wait."


	7. One Park, Two Bad Days

Percy's POV

On the way to the park, many, many years later with my two children, Neal and Ariel, I looked over at Liza. "Say do you remember any special occasion coming up?" I asked and Neal frowned, Liza smiled, "No I don't think I do."

Neal, being eleven years old he said, "Mom, dad, did you guys seriously forget my birthday?" I dramatically smacked my forehead, "OH, that's what it was." Neal frowned, "Dad you're an idiot." I pretended to tip a hat, "With pride." Lisa laughed, and I remembered that was what she said to me the day we first became friends.

We sat at by a tree that we got plagued, _"Neal's Tree". _ There were flowers growing all around the willow and a bench near the trunk. I set down the pack we filled with food and Liza asked, "So what did you pack us?" She took a quick look into the bag and sighed, "Really Percy, pizza?" Ariel laughed, I smiled remembering that she was still eight. "I don't mind pizza." Liza frowned at me, "She's a, miniature version of you, gods of Olympus she's going to be a handful." Ariel smiled, "I'll be good." I ruffled her hair, "I sure hope so kiddo." Ariel giggled and I couldn't help but smile.

Neal sighed, "Can we eat now?" his stomach made a dying whale sound and I nodded, "Eat up, and you might want to get seconds." Liza laughed, "Yes your father eats more than a hydra." Neal grabbed three pieces and ate up, Ariel only got one, and Liz got two.

I smiled as I looked at the pizza, "Mhmm…pepperoni, and it's still warm." Liza whispered over to Ariel, "Never get between your father and pizza." Even Neal laughed, and for the next hour Liza and I talked about all of our adventures through the world. Liza stood up, and said, "Why don't you go take our stuff the car while I take Neal and Ariel to the park to play?" I nodded and stood up, "Alright kids, a couple rules: don't blow up anything, don't call the kids mortals, and don't make references to the gods." Neal groaned, "_But dad, that's the only way I get to insult kids without them even realizing it!"_ I pointed at him and said frowning, "What did I just say, and let me tell you that if you do your mother is a lot harder on you than I am." I looked over at her and she rolled her eyes.

Then she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and said, "See you in a little bit." I smiled as I packed up our things and headed to the car. It was around ten minutes later when Liza ran up to me, her eyes were wide and she looked scared.

"What is it?!" I said as I ran over to her.

"The kids-they-" I finally got over to her and I looked at her,

"_What happened?_"

She sighed and I saw tears in her eyes, "A man, defiantly not mortals ordered all the kids off the playground. Then before I could do anything he grabbed Neal and Ariel and rode away!" _what, no that can't have happened. Neal and Ariel will jump out of the bushes any minute._ I could see there was really fear in her eyes, "Oh gods, um…alright what did he drive away on?" Liza looked around, "Um…I think it was a bike but it was huge." "Did the man happen to have red glasses on?" "Yes, why?"

_Oh great another thing to brighten my day!_ "I'm pretty sure that Ares has just kidnapped our kids." Liza sighed and said, "Oh gods, Percy will the kids be alright?" I shrug, "They're tough, but also Ares is out for revenge, still probably holding a grudge after me beating his immortal butt when I was twelve." Liza rubbed her face in her hand, "I don't know what to do, and I'm scared for them. They're just kids." I embraced her and murmured, "I know, gods, I know. I know Neal will look out for Ariel though and they're both going to be alright. I promise."

I could still see Ariel's brown hair and green eyes, and Neal's mischievous look in his eyes (which I claimed he got from Liza) and his sarcastic grin.

When we were back at the apartment I sat down and Iris-Messaged all of my friends who were currently in Manhattan, to keep an eye out/tell me if they say anyone who looked like Ares. Sadly there had been no godly sightings so I was out of luck I stood out on the balcony and gripped the rails so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. I felt a hand on my back, I turned to find Liza. "Percy are you alright?" I shook my head, "No, my kids are missing, other than you they're the most important things in the world to me. Nobody had seen Ares so I'm basically following the wind." She looked at me with emerald green eyes, "It'll be alright, we'll find them."

The printer beeped and she looked over at it, "I just printed missing posters, I'm going around town to post these up." She took a handful of them and the car keys and with red eyes she rushed out the door. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

I waited for Liza to come back, and I found myself increasingly looking over at the clock. An hour passed, two hours, three hours. I started getting nervous and I went over to my fountain to make an Iris-Message. As soon as I made it, it went to voice mail. I realized something.

_Liza was gone._


End file.
